Leadership Lyceum: A CEO's Virtual Mentor artwork

Leadership Lyceum: A CEO's Virtual Mentor

34 episodes - English - Latest episode: 12 months ago - ★★★★★ - 12 ratings

The Leadership Lyceum: A CEO’s Virtual Mentor podcast series provides situational advice to a wide audience of leaders and boards of directors through conversations with those that have been there. The podcast brings unprecedented, one-on-one access to top, current and retired, CEOs and Directors of Boards and provides beneficial information and valuable insight on situational and topical issues that confront CEOs and Boards from those that have faced them before - often in dramatic circumstances. Consider it a “Virtual Mentor” for CEOs and other leaders, because let’s face it – it’s lonely at the top.

There are basic leadership challenges common to all CEOs as well as specific situational circumstances that warrant attention in our series. The interview format delivers memoir, profile, perspective, and in a unique fashion - not only draws answers - but also brings fundamental insight. We hope that you will find merit in all the episodes and comment and contribute your own situations of interest. We’ll do our best to cover them with those CEOs that have faced them.

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Episodes

A Regulatory Primer for Board Members with Non Regulatory Backgrounds with Dr. Mark Jamison

May 12, 2023 14:15 - 54 minutes - 124 MB

Welcome to Episode 27, Season 7 of A CEO’s Virtual Mentor® Are you a new board member serving on a regulated company board, but from a non regulatory background? This episode is directed especially to newer board members and executives in utility companies regulated at the state and even federal levels.   My guest in this episode is Dr. Mark Jamison. Dr. Jamison is Director and Gerald Gunter Professor, Public Utility Research Center at the Warrington College of Business at the Universit...

The Energy Within Us. A wide-ranging discussion about the upbringing and developmental experiences of four pioneering corporate leaders

March 12, 2023 20:23 - 1 hour - 170 MB

Welcome to Episode 26, Season 7, of the Leadership Lyceum: A CEO's Virtual Mentor®. This episode coupled with the prior Episode 25 on Overcoming Homophily forms two episodes themed to span both Black History Month and Women’s History Month. I'm joined in this program by four of five women who on May 1st, 2019, published together a collective autobiographical book titled The Energy Within Us. It is their stories across the arc of their lives from childhood environments and experiences that ...

Why is Achieving Diversity So Hard? Overcoming Homophily and Our Own Human Nature with Sociologist James Cook

February 24, 2021 21:41 - 58 minutes - 54.3 MB

Welcome to Episode 25, Season 6, of the Leadership Lyceum: A CEO's Virtual Mentor®. This is part one of two episodes aimed as a celebration of Black History Month. In August 2020, USA Today reported that 11% of the directors across the 50 largest companies in the S&P 100 are black. On the other hand, gender diversity on boards has shown better improvement over the last seven years. BoardEx just released data that revealed gender diversity on corporate boards in the US increased about 10% o...

Inspiring award-winning performances from your talent: Crossover applications to business leadership from the theatrical development process with Charles Newell, Artistic Director of Court Theatre in Chicago

December 18, 2020 22:42 - 56 minutes - 52.8 MB

Inspiring award-winning performances from your talent: Crossover applications to business leadership from the theatrical development process with Charles Newell, Artistic Director of Court Theatre in Chicago A CEO’s Virtual Mentor Episode 24   Welcome to Episode 24, Season 5, of the Leadership Lyceum: A CEO's Virtual Mentor®. I'm joined in the program today by Charles Newell, the Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director of the renowned and critically acclaimed Court Theatre in Chicago...

The Anatomy of a Private Equity Investment: from M&A roll-up, to IPO, and beyond with Advanced Disposal Services’ Chairman and CEO Richard Burke

June 21, 2019 11:45 - 55 minutes - 51.8 MB

“Service First, Safety Always” The Anatomy of a Private Equity Investment: from M&A roll-up, to IPO, and beyond with Advanced Disposal Services’ Chairman and CEO Richard Burke A CEO’s Virtual Mentor Episode 23  Welcome to episode 23 and the beginning of Season 4 of A CEO's Virtual Mentor. I'd like to express our special thanks to the clients of Lyceum Leadership Consulting that have enabled us to bring you this podcast, and to you, ladies and gentlemen, our devoted listenership, fo...

A Remarkable Corporate Turnaround: The “Take-Private” of Talen Energy with CEO Ralph Alexander and CFO Alex Hernandez

May 17, 2019 10:41 - 46 minutes - 43.7 MB

 A Remarkable Corporate Turnaround: The “Take-Private” of Talen Energy with CEO Ralph Alexander and CFO Alex Hernandez A CEO’s Virtual Mentor® Episode 22  Welcome to Episode 22 and May 2019, which marks Lyceum’s three-year anniversary of publishing A CEO's Virtual Mentor®. Today I'm joined by Talen Energy’s CEO, Ralph Alexander, and CFO, Alex Hernandez. We'll be discussing the remarkable turnaround of Talen Energy that Ralph and Alex have been leading. Talen Energy in its privately...

Climate Change as the Foremost Challenge of Our Generation with Dr. Ralph Izzo, Chairman, President and CEO of PSEG

April 19, 2019 17:37 - 37 minutes - 35.4 MB

The Earth Day Episode - A CEO’s Virtual Mentor Episode 21 Climate Change as the Foremost Challenge of Our Generation with Dr. Ralph Izzo, Chairman, President and CEO of PSEG Happy Earth Day Weekend.  Monday, April 22nd is Earth Day.  In celebration and recognition, we welcome you to our special Earth Day 2019 episode.  I am joined by Dr. Ralph Izzo, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) in Newark, New Jersey.  This Episode 21 covers a...

The ESG Canvas for Corporate Reporting with Pat Kampling, Chairman & CEO of Alliant Energy

March 19, 2019 15:10 - 30 minutes - 29.4 MB

A CEO’s Virtual Mentor Episode 20 The ESG Canvas for Corporate Reporting with Pat Kampling, Chairman and CEO of Alliant Energy Welcome to Episode 20. I am joined by Pat Kampling, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Alliant Energy in Madison Wisconsin.  This Episode 20 covers several areas of topical interest including a discussion on ‘sustainability’ and the quickly emerging and rapidly evolving area of ESG or “Environmental, Social, and Governance” criteria.  Institutional investors...

Redefining Leadership in a Traditional Industry with Mary Powell, CEO of Green Mountain Power

February 15, 2019 15:10 - 29 minutes - 27.9 MB

A CEO’s Virtual Mentor Episode 19 Redefining Leadership in a Traditional Industry with Mary Powell, President and Chief Executive Officer of Green Mountain Power Corporation Welcome to Episode 19. I am joined by Mary Powell, President and Chief Executive Officer of Green Mountain Power in Vermont.  This Episode 19 presents a unique CEO profile in Mary Powell.  Many of the CEO’s that we have featured in the past have come from science, technology and engineering disciplines or law or fi...

Leading a Regional Electricity Grid: Transition to a Clean Energy Future with Gordon van Welie, CEO of ISO New England

January 15, 2019 13:15 - 34 minutes - 34.4 MB

A CEO’s Virtual Mentor Episode 17 "Leading a Regional Electricity Grid and the Transition to a Clean Energy Future" with Gordon van Welie, President and CEO of ISO New England Welcome to Episode 17. I joined Gordon Van Welie, President and Chief Executive Officer of ISO New England on a clear late summer's day at his office just outside of Springfield, Massachusetts. The general population would likely not be aware of the pivotal and critical role that an independent system operator pl...

Leading an Industry Association with Sue Kelly, CEO of the American Public Power Association

December 17, 2018 16:10 - 34 minutes - 34.1 MB

A CEO’s Virtual Mentor Episode 18 Leading an Industry Association with Sue Kelly, President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Public Power Association (APPA) Welcome to Episode 18. I am joined by Sue Kelly, President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Public Power Association (APPA) in her office in Washington, DC. Our past 17 episodes have presented CEOs across a wide spectrum of company settings including publicly-traded, privately-held, and not-for-profits. This epi...

Turnarounds, Veterans, and a Tribute to Senator John McCain with Don Brandt, CEO of Pinnacle West

September 10, 2018 18:48 - 28 minutes - 26.5 MB

A CEO’s Virtual Mentor Episode 16 "Turnarounds, Veterans, and a Tribute to Senator John McCain" with Don Brandt, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pinnacle West  Interview with Don Brandt, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pinnacle West (Ticker: PNW) and the turnaround of the company’s principal subsidiary, regulated utility Arizona Public Service through regulatory processes; also hiring military veterans and reservists; and, a tribute to the late Senat...

“Earth Day Episode” with Ralph Cavanagh, Natural Resources Defense Council

April 24, 2018 02:11 - 35 minutes - 83.8 MB

Welcome to Episode 15.  This is The Leadership Lyceum’s special Earth Day 2018 episode of A CEO’s Virtual Mentor on Climate Change and Clean Energy. We are pleased to present an interview with Ralph Cavanagh, Co-Director of the Energy Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council from October 23, 2017.  We honor Earth Day by bringing in a much deeper perspective than is typically seen by the environmentally-conscious consumer.  We look deeply at the prospects for clean energy on a mas...

The Philanthropy Episode - A Holiday Double Feature

December 16, 2017 10:30 - 1 hour - 132 MB

The Philanthropy Episode – A Holiday Double Feature A CEO’s Virtual Mentor® Episode 14 Holiday greetings from The Leadership Lyceum!  Welcome to our 14th episode of the podcast. ‘Tis the season of giving and we give you our holiday gift in the form of this holiday special double episode on Philanthropy.  We’ll cover the subject from a few different angles. First. from the perspective of the giver – with our first guest, University of Chicago benefactor Bernard DelGiorno.  Bernie also a...

The Big Shareholder Activism Episode – The Escalation Path

October 30, 2017 22:58 - 1 hour - 96.6 MB

A CEO’s Virtual Mentor Episode 13  The Big Shareholder Activism Episode – The Escalation Path Implications and Advice for Corporate Governance and CEO Leadership Our guests in a panel format include: Chris Young, Managing Director and Head of the Contested Situations Group, Credit Suisse Paul Toback, Former President, CEO and Chairman of Bally Total Fitness Marjorie Bowen, Retired Managing Partner of Houlihan Lokey and highly experienced public and private company director with an...

Shareholder Activism; Board Governance & Effectiveness; and Conversation with WEC Energy CEO, Allen Leverett

September 04, 2017 16:20 - 48 minutes - 67.1 MB

A CEO’s Virtual Mentor Episode 12 Shareholder Activism – The Vulnerability Framework; Board Governance & Effectiveness; and a Conversation with WEC Energy Group CEO Allen Leverett Guests include: Chris Young, Managing Director and Head of the Contested Situations Group, Credit Suisse Allen Leverett, President and CEO of WEC Energy Tanuja Dehne, Corporate governance expert and independent director of publicly-traded companies.  If you haven’t joined us in a while, you may have misse...

Board Governance & Effectiveness, Shareholder Activism, and Utility Consolidation and M&A

July 01, 2017 01:52 - 59 minutes - 81.8 MB

A CEO’s Virtual Mentor Episode 11  Board Governance & Effectiveness, Shareholder Activism, and Utility Industry Consolidation and M&A Guests include: Corporate governance expert, Tanuja Dehne Paul Bonavia, Retired Chairman and CEO of UNS Energy Chris Young, Managing Director and head of the Contested Situations Group, Credit Suisse   If you did not join us for our last episode, Episode 10 which was a special podcast on Innovation, you may have missed the announcement that we form...

“The Electric Utility Industry’s Golden Age of Innovation: Now”

June 08, 2017 03:27 - 58 minutes - 80.5 MB

Special Podcast Episode 10 “The Electric Utility Industry’s Golden Age of Innovation: Now” Innovation Interviews with Eight CEOs After a bit of a hiatus, we are back.  I can assure we have been busy on your behalf in the interim.  We are delighted to announce that we formed two companies under Leadership Lyceum’s brand: Lyceum Leadership Consulting which provides executive and board of director’s search, board effectiveness review, and an array of services for successor development and...

Interview with Pedro Pizarro, CEO of Edison International

March 13, 2017 02:23 - 46 minutes - 63.4 MB

“Perpetuating the California Dream: Progressive Policy Meets Progressive Leadership” Interview with Pedro Pizarro, CEO of Edison International in Los Angeles, California Welcome to Episode 9 of the Leadership Lyceum: A CEO’s Virtual Mentor.  I had the pleasure of visiting Pedro Pizarro, CEO of Edison International in his Los Angeles office for this conversation as part of what will be a bit of a sub-series introducing some of the recently appointed CEO's in the utility industry. Edis...

“Leading Beyond Authority in Utilities: A Conversation with American Water Works CEO Susan Story”

February 12, 2017 16:46 - 35 minutes - 49.3 MB

Welcome to Episode 8 of the Leadership Lyceum: A CEO’s Virtual Mentor “Leading Beyond Authority in Utilities: A Conversation with American Water Works CEO Susan Story” American Water Works (Ticker: AWK) is the largest publicly-traded water utility in the country, serving one of the basic human needs of about 15 million customers across 47 states, and in Ontario, Canada. The company serves, and Susan leads, in a mission-critical infrastructure sector. I have had the pleasure of hearing ...

Part 2 of 2: “Utility Mergers & Acquisitions: Reflections from The Room Where It Happened”

January 09, 2017 12:15 - 39 minutes - 54 MB

Part 2 of 2: “Utility Mergers & Acquisitions: Reflections from The Room Where It Happened” Interview with McKinsey & Company Emeritus, Dr. Les Silverman, former Lead Independent Director of Pepco and Independent Director of Columbia Pipeline Group (CPG); Mr. Robert (Bob) Skaggs, former CEO of NiSource and then CEO of CPG; and Mr. Joseph (Joe) Rigby, former Chief Executive Officer of Pepco.  Welcome to Episode 7 of the Leadership Lyceum: A CEO’s Virtual Mentor.  This is Part 2 of a 2-part...

Part 1 of 2: “Utility Mergers & Acquisitions: Reflections from The Room Where It Happened”

December 05, 2016 12:09 - 39 minutes - 53.9 MB

Part 1 of 2: “Utility Mergers & Acquisitions: Reflections from The Room Where It Happened” Interview with McKinsey & Company Emeritus, Dr. Les Silverman, former Lead Independent Director of Pepco and Independent Director of Columbia Pipeline Group (CPG); Mr. Robert (Bob) Skaggs, former CEO of NiSource and then CEO of CPG; and Mr. Joseph (Joe) Rigby, former Chief Executive Officer of Pepco.  Welcome to Episode 7 of the Leadership Lyceum: A CEO’s Virtual Mentor.  This is Part 1 of a 2-part...

Part 2 of 2: “Product and Brand Leadership” Interview with Andy Mooney, CEO of Fender Musical Instruments

November 13, 2016 23:04 - 23 minutes - 31.7 MB

This is Part 2 of a 2-part interview with Andy Mooney, CEO of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.  (http://shop.fender.com/en-US/about ). You will recall from Part 1 that I joined Andy in his new Hollywood offices, which were still in the finishing touches of the build out, on September 14th 2016. We had a sweeping conversation covering his leadership at Fender, his product orientation and brand focus and industry innovation that he is leading at Fender. Fender had their grand opening ...

Part 1 of 2: “Product and Brand Leadership” Interview with Andy Mooney, CEO of Fender Musical Instruments.

October 29, 2016 22:59 - 32 minutes - 44.9 MB

Part 1 of 2: “Product and Brand Leadership” Interview with Andy Mooney, CEO of Fender Musical Instruments.  Welcome to Episode 6 of the Leadership Lyceum: A CEO’s Virtual Mentor.  This is Part 1 of a 2-part interview with Andy Mooney, CEO of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.  (http://shop.fender.com/en-US/about ). I joined Andy in his new Hollywood offices, which were still in the finishing touches of the build out, on September 14th 2016. We had a sweeping conversation his leade...

Part 2 of 2: “Lifeline Sector Cybersecurity Leadership” Interview with Tom Fanning, Chairman and CEO of Southern Company

October 04, 2016 04:17 - 22 minutes - 30.7 MB

Part 2 of 2: “Lifeline Sector Cybersecurity Leadership” Interview with Tom Fanning, Chairman and CEO of Southern Company Welcome to Episode 5 of the Leadership Lyceum: A CEO’s Virtual Mentor.  This is Part 2 of a 2 part interview with Tom Fanning, Chairman and CEO of Atlanta-based Southern Company (http://southerncompany.com ).  If you are joining us by linking over from my recent feature article on Mr. Fanning in trade-publication Public Utilities Fortnightly (https://www.fortnightly.co...

Part 1 of 2: Interview with Tom Fanning, Chairman and CEO of Southern Company

September 26, 2016 04:14 - 22 minutes - 30.8 MB

This is Part 1 of a 2 part interview with Tom Fanning, Chairman and CEO of Atlanta-based Southern Company (http://southerncompany.com ).  If you are joining us by linking over from my recent feature article on Mr. Fanning in trade-publication Public Utilities Fortnightly (https://www.fortnightly.com ), welcome to our podcast.  Southern Company has $18 billion in annual revenues and is the second largest utility in the US, with 9 million gas and electric customers in 9 states.  Tom Fanning ...

Part 2 of 2 Interview “Leading in a Downturn” with Bryan Shinn, CEO of US Silica

August 15, 2016 03:36 - 32 minutes - 44.8 MB

Welcome to Episode 4 of the “Leadership Lyceum: A CEO’s Virtual Mentor” podcast. This is Part 2 of a 2 part interview with Bryan Shinn, CEO of US Silica.  US Silica (http://www.ussilica.com) is a NYSE-listed $643 million revenue producer and distributor of commercial silica through two segments: 2/3 of revenues derived from Oil & Gas Proppants Segment - in essence as sand to prop and maintain fractured openings in oil and gas fracking applications. 1/3 of revenues derived from Industria...

Part 1 of 2 Interview "Leading an IPO" with Bryan Shinn, CEO of US Silica

July 04, 2016 18:49 - 32 minutes - 44.5 MB

Part 1 of 2 Interview Leading an IPO with Bryan Shinn, CEO of US Silica  Welcome to Episode 4 of the “Leadership Lyceum: A CEO’s Virtual Mentor” podcast.  This is Part 1 of a 2 part interview with Bryan Shinn, CEO of US Silica.  US Silica (http://www.ussilica.com) is a NYSE-listed $643 million revenue producer and distributor of commercial silica through two segments:  2/3 of revenues derived from Oil & Gas Proppants Segment - in essence as sand to prop and maintain fractured openings i...

Part 2 of 2 Interview with Bob Flexon, CEO of Dynegy in Houston

June 27, 2016 13:03 - 18 minutes - 25.4 MB

Part 2 of 2 Interview with Bob Flexon, CEO of Dynegy in Houston.    Welcome to Episode 3 of the “Leadership Lyceum: A CEO’s Virtual Mentor” podcast. Part of a Sub-Series on “CEO from CFO” This is Part 2 of a 2 part interview with Bob Flexon, CEO of Dynegy. Dynegy is a $5.5 billion revenue independent power producer in the US operating 26,000 megawatts of power generating facilities in eight states. The capacity from 35 power stations provides capability to power 21 million homes. Bob wil...

Part 1 of 2 Interview with Bob Flexon, CEO of Dynegy in Houston

June 19, 2016 21:54 - 24 minutes - 33.2 MB

This is Part 1 of a 2 part interview with Bob Flexon, CEO of Dynegy. Dynegy is a $5.5 billion revenue independent power producer in the US operating 26,000 megawatts of power generating facilities in eight states. The capacity from 35 power stations provides capability to power 21 million homes. Bob will share his experience over his five-year tenure at Dynegy as CEO and leading the company through financial distress, an orderly bankruptcy and emergence, and substantial growth through acquis...

Part 2 of 2. Interview with Mark Pytosh, CEO of CVR Partners, owned by billionaire Carl Icahn.

June 11, 2016 16:05 - 21 minutes - 29.3 MB

Welcome to Episode 2 of the “Leadership Lyceum: A CEO’s Virtual Mentor” podcast. Part of a Sub-Series on “CEO from CFO” This is Part 2 of a 2 part interview with Mark Pytosh, CEO of $300 million CVR Partners, a Houston-based manufacturer of ammonia and urea ammonium nitrate for fertilizer products. The company is owned by billionaire Carl Icahn's Icahn Enterprises.   Mark will share his experience of moving from CFO to CEO in an Icahn-controlled organization.  Our conversation will explore...

Part 1 of 2. Interview with Mark Pytosh, CEO of CVR Partners, owned by billionaire Carl Icahn

June 11, 2016 12:46 - 23 minutes - 31.6 MB

Welcome to Episode 2 of the “Leadership Lyceum: A CEO’s Virtual Mentor” podcast. Part of a Sub-Series on “CEO from CFO” This is Part 1 of a 2 part interview with Mark Pytosh, CEO of $300 million CVR Partners, a Houston-based manufacturer of ammonia and urea ammonium nitrate for fertilizer products. The company is owned by billionaire Carl Icahn's Icahn Enterprises.   Mark will share his experience of moving from CFO to CEO in an Icahn-controlled organization.  Our conversation will explore...

Part 2 of 2 Interview with Jonathan Baliff, CEO of Bristow Group

May 29, 2016 12:57 - 32 minutes - 59.3 MB

Link to the Podcast: http://leadershiplyceum.libsyn.com/rss Welcome to the DEBUT of the “Leadership Lyceum: A CEO’s Virtual Mentor” podcast. This is Part 2 of a 2 part interview with Jonathan Baliff, CEO of $1.7 bln NYSE-listed Bristow Group and his experience of moving from CFO to CEO during a downturn in the energy industry. In our conversation in Part 2, Jonathan will share his experiences of going through an intensive CEO succession process at Bristow and will provide advice to CFOs ...

Part 1 of 2 Interview with Jonathan Baliff, CEO of Bristow Group

May 28, 2016 15:04 - 21 minutes - 39.1 MB

Debut episode of the Leadership Lyceum: A CEO’s Virtual Mentor podcast.  Part 1 of a 2 part interview with Jonathan Baliff, CEO of $1.7 bln NYSE-listed Bristow Group and his experience of moving from CFO to CEO during a downturn in the energy industry. Our conversation will explore his priorities around safety, culture and corporate performance and overall leadership.  He will provide advice to CFOs interested in becoming CEOs and to Boards contemplating a CEO succession process. Please ...

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